Returnable Milk Bottles

Schulz Organic Dairy in Timboon are piloting the sale of their milk in returnable glass milk bottles and its a wonderful thing. I love the look, feel and taste of milk from a bottle. While there is no rational explanation for it, the milk seems colder and tastes even better than usual when I drink a glass of this prize winning milk from the bottle. While cartons and plastic can get recycled, a glass bottle not only gets reused but its continual circulation in the system means a reduction in the amount of milk containers overall. Once it reaches the end of a long life the glass can be recycled into something else or another milk bottle. With glass you get the three Rs; Reuse, Reduce and Recycle. This sustainable approach to consumption is common in Germany, where most supermarkets accept returnable milk and yoghurt containers and some even provide a vending machine for you to refill the bottle yourself if you wish. Schulz Organic Dairy are only trialing the glass bottles at farmers markets for now but hope to roll them out to retail stores early next year. It would be wonderful to see glass bottles take off again in Australia.